On what would have been his 91st birthday, Ivan W. Clemmens' family ventured to Riverside Park to pay their respects to their patriarch who passed away in 2018.
Instead, the family discovered the bench vandalized and the memorial plaque they purchased to honour Ivan missing.
"I felt sick to my stomach," said Ivan's daughter, Gail Clemmens. "Why would anybody pay somebody scrap value for something like this?"
According to Gail, one of Ivan's favourite things to do was taking the grandchildren down to the park and finding a nice quiet place to fish.
After his passing, Gail's mother wanted a place to be able to reflect quietly and still feel connected to her late husband. The quiet bank next to the river where Ivan would fish with his grandchildren would become the perfect spot for the Clemmens family to pay their respect.
"She goes down as often as possible, because she lives in Preston," added Gail.
On his 91st birthday as Gail's mother and brother made their way to the bench to spend some time by the river and immediately noticed the missing plaque.
Confused and angry, they walked around to the other benches in the park and noticed more plaques were missing.
"My brother's spoke to a worker at the park who was unaware, but apparently this is not uncommon to see," said Gail. "What is Cambridge becoming? Is nothing sacred? So disgusting."
Nathan who works at Gerdau Metals Recycling in Cambridge said if someone was to come in with a plaque, it is a red flag and would not buy the item.
"Depending on what it is, we would definitely consider calling the police," added Nathan. "If people call us and report something stolen we can keep an eye out for it."
In awe and disappointed, Ivan's wife decided to write in her own memorial on the empty space where the plaque used to reside.
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